8 Critical Reasons for a Vegetarian Diet

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1. ENVIRONMENTAL REASONS

A recent U.N. report indicates that raising livestock is a major contributor to GLOBAL WARMING, worse than car emissions. And, according to www.GoVeg.com:

ENERGY - Raising animals for food requires more than one-third of all raw materials and fossil fuels used in the United States. Producing a single hamburger patty uses enough fossil fuel to drive a small car 20 miles and enough water for 17 showers.
POLLUTION - The meat industry causes more water pollution in the United States than any other industry because the animals raised for food produces 130 times more excrement than the entire human population.
LAND - Of all agricultural land in the United States, 87 percent is used to raise animals for food. On an acre of land, 20,000 pounds of potatoes can be grown, but only 165 pounds of beef can be produced in the same space.
WATER - Raising animals for food consumes more than half of all the water used in the United States. It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce a pound of meat, but only 25 gallons to produce a pound of wheat.
DEFORESTATION - Rain forests are being destroyed at a rate of 125,000 square miles per year to create space to raise animals for food. For every quarter-pound fast food burger made of rain-forest beef, 55 square feet of land are consumed.

2. HEALTH REASONS – In addition to the threat of the bird flu, mad cow disease, E.Coli, salmonella, and other diseases, eating animal products is closely linked with both heart disease and cancer. Meat/eggs/dairy products are loaded with unhealthy saturated fat and cholesterol with no fiber. Animals have immense fear right before they die so the adrenaline hormones end up inside our bodies causing us to become more fearful. Animals are frequently given additional hormones in order for them to grow faster. Meat rots quickly so it is high in additives, preservatives, red dye; Animals are overloaded with antibiotics & steroids just to keep them alive on these factory farms (so that when we need antibiotics, they no longer work as effectively). See also Greatest Page, lastest world research study report on eating processed meat being strongly linked to cancer.

3. ETHICAL REASONS - Pigs, cows, and chickens are individuals with feelings—they can feel love, affection, loneliness, pain, sadness and fear, just as dogs, cats, and people do. An estimated 9 billion are slaughtered every year in the U.S. Undercover investigations have revealed that a large percentage of them live lives of unspeakable suffering under terrifying conditions in today's factory farms where profits frequently take precedence over compassion. These animals’ miserable lives finally end at the slaughter houses where they are often killed while still conscious. There have been reports of heads cut off, being scalded/burned alive and other horrors. What have these innocent, defenseless creatures ever done to deserve this kind of treatment? See www.meetyourmeat.com.

4. LESS EXPENSE – It’s much cheaper to grow fruits and vegetables than to raise animals. And if the demand for vegetarian food was greater, the cost would go down even further.

5. A CARNIVOROUS DIET IS UNNATURAL - Human beings are the only primates that eat meat. Our teeth are not canine. Our digestive systems do not support digesting meat since carnivorous animals have much shorter digestive tracts.

6. IMPURE FOOD – If we were not in the habit of eating animals or ever stopped to consider what we were actually eating (dead corpse, blood and gore along with their waste products), it probably would not be that appetizing. And we have no idea (and may not want to know) what part of the animal is in hamburger, hot dogs, brats. On today’s factory farms, animal are often forced to live in their own feces. See MODERN MEAT video.

7. WASTEFUL - With meat being at the top of the food chain and world population skyrocketing, only a vegetarian diet makes sense. According to various sources, if the food that is given these billions of animals every day would instead be given to all the starving people, this would end world hunger.

8. THE SOY ALTERNATIVE – Soy is a complete protein that is high in calcium and, unlike animal protein, it contains fiber and has no cholesterol. Try soy milk, soy burgers, mock duck, corn dogs and several other delicious soy products that are now on the market